In December 2008, the Russian producer iMoreGames - with support from chiling, a publisher of weight at the scene of the App Store - brought to the owners of the SOI devices Orions - Legend of the Wizards. Originally Orions was a title for the Windows Mobile platform. It was a strategy game with a battle system with letters, a mix of Heroes of Might and Magic and Yu Gi Oh, say.
The Orions had a first artistic director of quality, solid gameplay and a variety of cards, which is what matters most in a card game. I mentioned the game in this column about card games here in TB.
The battle of letters, which is the flagship of the game
Despite these qualities, Orions did not become a very popular game in the App Store, for two reasons. First, the lack of online mode, an almost criminal omission in a game of competitive nature. Second, the total indifference of developers from the game after its release. The first Orions ran out of updates for over 2 years, a scenario that constantly change as the App Store is essentially a declaration of abandonment.
Last week, the iMoreGames launched two Orions - The Deckmasters, the game that fans of the original version for Windows Mobile known as an expansion of the original game.
(YouTube)
Although this maneuver (launch what should have been expanded as a separate game) has bitterly down the throat of the fans, two Orions news brought enough for the $ 2.99 charged by the new game does not seem like a price so salty.
The way the "campaign" has changed very little. You start with a city (which the game world are called "Orion") and must take surrounding the base of the brawl. When entering the adjacent Orion, the battle begins. Each city produces different cards, which means that each orion captured, more cards are available for you.
In the game there are six different schools of magic, represented by icons at the top and bottom of the screen, respectively, the classical elements Water, Fire, Air, Earth, Life and Death. The number accompanying each icon represents the amount of magical energy (which, conventions while maintaining the classic fantasy genre, I will call "mana") that each player has. At each turn, you gain a "mana" in each element.
As you can see in the screenshot, the letters have small numbers. The number at the top right (8 in the case of Manticore) is the cost of the letter. This means that to play this card, I need to have at least 8 weeks in the Air When you spend eight weeks of such air, you probably can not use letters of Air soon.
The number at the bottom right is the creature's attack (for the Manticore, 5). It is the amount of damage that the letter concerned the attack. And finally, the number within the heart are the hit points of the letter. If they go to zero, the creature dies.
The game consists of playing a creature at a time and give the order to attack (which also ends his turn.) Creatures that have not come into play in the current turn will attack those who stand in the space opposite to them (or the opposing player, if space is empty). Let us use again the example screen above: I was attacked at that moment, my Manticore attack my opponent (causing 5 damage it), and all others grappled with the enemy creatures.
And the ultimate goal is to take the points hit the opposing player to zero. Unlike many card games, Orions is easy enough for even a total layman understands what he is doing after a few turns.
And there are spells that cause various effects on the table ... They increase the life of his creatures, cause damage to the enemy creatures, increase their mana, steal the opponent's creatures, and so on. The variety in the creatures and spells (there are 116 letters in all) is what makes the games quite different, and eventually you begin to discover the colors, creatures, spells and favorite strategies, like any other card game.
Moreover, almost all creatures have abilities (positive or negative) that interact with other pets, resulting in things that you can exploit to their advantage. For example, there is a creature which increases his own life at every turn. An effect that will cure all his creatures to the "maximum" let this creature (which technically has no maximum life) with 124 points absurdities of life: a nice shock to the opponent. To that gives the name of "combo", and discover combos is one of the coolest things to do in a card game.
The campaign two Orions, like many games today, only serves to familiarize yourself with the elements of gameplay. The real value of the game's other modes.
There are several ways to play two Orions. Simplest of these is the campaign mode (to win, simply conquer all the cities on the map). When you do that, you get a magic item that is for nothing other than a medal of honor. Gamers who like to complete games 100% might not catch the campaign mode just for that.
In Duel Mode, there are three ways to play: against the CPU, against a friend on the same phone, and online through the GameCenter. Play against friends via Wi-Fi or 3G via GameCenter is definitely what most owners will make the game.
And the matchmaking system works very well. Simply select the online mode and your buddy list GameCenter appears next. Choose one, type a custom message to the call of the game (if you prefer) and send. Your friend receives a push notification and then just accept.
Custom In Duel, you can also play against the CPU, a friend on the couch or strangers on the internet, but this time in different styles of play. In Draft, you and your opponent take turns choosing from a selection of 10 cards of each element, and through this process the cards you choose will be your deck.
It takes guile to decide between the letter X or Y (knowing that a good letter will be chosen by the opponent refused, and that this knowledge could shape decisions during the game). The strategy begins even before the match starts.
In User Decks, you can play against a local opponent or the CPU (but not online, unfortunately) that you started using decks and saved previously.
Finally, Challenge is one way in which the matches occur under conditions different from conventional ones. Players earn two weeks of each element in turn, instead of one, or all creatures take 3 damage each turn, or you start with 9 points of life, while the enemy starts with 100. There are altogether 9 different Challenges.
And above all, there are many achievements to unlock ...
In general, two Orions really looks more like an expansion than a full continuation. The gameplay, graphics and campaign mode are essentially the same as the first game. However, this time there are more cards, more game modes, and you can play over the internet - which is definitely the most interesting aspect of Orion 2. There are far fewer bugs than the first game, too. In the forums where they discuss the game, only one has been reported so far (and is now being repaired).
Then there is the promise of the developers to stay closer to the community of users and do not leave this game as they did with the first. If they deserve a second chance, I do not know - but at least I can say that two Orions, the way it was released, it is worth three dollars.
iTunes | Orions 2 (lite version, free)
iTunes | Orions 2 ($ 2.99)
If you are not willing to pay to see, there is also a free demo version.
